I have been watching here for a while but this will be my first little blog. I have wanted to build a dio based on the events of March 1945 at Remagen. This is my inspriration for the build.



Since this could be a very large model I decided to do just a small section of the bridge and at 1;76 scale. This is my rough sketch of what I am going for.



John

So after buying as much plastic extrusion as I could find I have set about constructing the structure. Here are some photos of the finished engineering.





This has been simplified a little and approximated from the photot above. I think it looks close enough to the real bridge for me.
John

Wow John really look forward to seeing that.Major challenge my friend.

Pete

The support pier was constructed from some solid wood in order to support the weight of the cantilevered bridge. I then built a little frame for the base and added Hydrocal over the wood to create the texture of the brick work.



I wanted this to look massive and a bit rough. This was then painted. Water was created by painting the base a dark green then using heavy Acrylic gel to create a wave texture. This was covered with a coat of Realistic Water from Woodland Scenics and finally a coat of Future to add some more shine. This is the result.



John

superb really like the look of this build.

Pete

The structure has been given a coat of Tamiya grey primer then a base coat of Tamiya Red Brown and Hull Red.This was airbrushed on, and was a real nightmare trying to get into all the hidden angles. The final top coat will certainly need touching up with a brush when I get to it.



At this scale adding rivets is a bit of a challenge. I chose to approximate the riveted joints by adding small dots of Acrylic Gel with a cocktail stick. You can just see some of this in the photo.

As a diversion I have also built a Revell 1;76 scale M16 which will be on the bridge to defend the engineers.



Thanks for looking in there will be more to come.

John

That looks great!

Claude

Your rivet heads look awesome, no need for anything more in such a small scale.

More than that, the bridge itself looks pretty outstanding too. Very much looking forward to seeing this in the end.

OUTSTANDING It makes me want to build a 1/35 bridge.

Totally amazing. I love the look of the water. What medium did you use? Keep up the awesome work.

Cheers

Todd.

Uber kuhl concept and execution as well.
J

That movie was just on MILITARY Channel this weekend, learned alot about the history of this key bridge.

Gentlemen you are all very kind with your comments. The technique for the water is:

1. Paint the base a thin dark olive green colour
2. Use acrylic gel medium to create a texture of waves etc, quite exaggerated.
3. Apply a thinish coat of Realistic Water from Woodland scenic.
4. Add a little more colour using Tamiya CLEAR green and Tamiya smoke
Finish with a coat of Future.

John

A big total DITTO! You are making me want to build in 1/35th!

Had to miss it this weekend unfortunately,but will catch it next time around.They tend to repeat a lot of the movies.Anyway John,it's looking amazing!In that scale I would never attempt it,looks like you've got a real piece of art happening there.What is the acrylic gel you used?Looking forward to your progress.

Tom

Hi John,

Just came across your build, terrific work on a very famous action.

Cheers

Al

Just came across this one, my self. Excellent work! The base is exceptional!

Once again thanks to everyone for your very kind comments.
The Acrylic Gel I use is stuff you can get from an Artists supply store. There are a dozen or more different Acrylic textures that you can buy. I use what is called Heavy gel, this is smooth but very viscous and dries almost transparent.
I've been working on painting the superstructure using pre-shading, hairspray techniques and the special two part real rust product that is used for finishing craft projects. In the end I simplified quite a bit until I add the final weathering. I also added one of the side walkways using wooden coffee stirrers.



Nothing is fixed to the base yet to help with access.

Questions and comments welcomed.
John

Perhaps you might offer us a photo wherein you sit the half-track on the roadway girders. In this way we can enjoy the actual impact of the extreme scale of what you have constructed here.

Great job!

What is the scale height in feet from the surface of the water to the underside of the bridge? I am still trying to fathom just how large your model structure is!

@avicenna – John,

I don’t usually drop into the Dioramas forum but I saw the title heading on the home page and thought I’d have a look, fantastic work! Your work is outstanding and well planned, definitely a fitting tribute to the men on both sides that served during that time.

~ Eddy

Fantastic build John. You captured the essence of it nicely and with your images, I also would love to attempt this. Have often considered attempting something like this previously, but never settled on how and what. You got it right here!!

It really helps to keep the enthusiasm going with so many very kind comments. Thanks to one and all.

The model is approximately 1:76 scale, I say approx. since the sizes were simply estimated from a number of contemporary B & W photos. The base is approx. 11" long by 8" wide. The top of the bridge stands approx. 10"above the water level and the underside of the bridge measures some 35 feet above the water in scale.

I have approximated much of the structure and slightly reduced what appears to be actual size simply for the sake of saving storage space. Finally since the whole thing is cantilevered I have added strength to the piece by oversizing a number of the structural members.

Thanks again to everyone who's following this adventure.
John

I have built many wooden bridges and sold them on ebay. Here's a great book that helped me. By Kalmbach Books Bridges & Trestles. It also has steel bridges.

Thanks John.
I am defiantly going to try the water method.

Cheers

Todd